Tag: android

Wiz Kid Jr. – Free amazon Appstore App of the Day 8/8/11

Name: Wiz Kid Jr.

Description:
Defend your mana from a horde of hungry spirits in the arcade puzzle adventure Wiz Kid, Jr. With the guidance of the Elder Wizard, chain together totems to increase your mana while beating back a steady onslaught of hungry spirits. You lose if the spirits eat up too much mana, but if you hold those hungry spirits off for long enough, you just might become an Unstoppable Wizard!

Wiz Kid, Jr. isn’t your ordinary block-matching game. You must trace a single straight line of at least three totems of the same color to eliminate them. But these totems won’t be dismissed so easily. Six types of hungry spirits lurk within the totems to add mayhem to the gameplay.

Feeding Frenzy
Each dangerous spirits has its own special attack to thwart your magical housecleaning. Some spirits munch up your mana, while others are ticking time bombs that create even more spirits if not dealt with in time. As you go up the levels, even more powerful spirits await to challenge your magical skills.

Say Hello to My Little Friend
Fortunately, you can access four additional magic spells to send those hungry spirits packing. You start off with a hammer that can knock out one totem. This bludgeon comes in handy when there’s a hungry spirit munching away, and you have no way of getting rid of it. As you progress up the levels, you’ll earn more powerful board-clearing spells to let those spirits know you mean business. But keep careful track of your mana. You don’t have an unlimited supply.

Wiz Kid, Jr. comes with detailed instructions and two game modes. Classic Arcade is a traditional campaign. In Super Free Play, you can select wave speed, spirit anger, and any three spirits to combat. Super Free Play is a fun way to figure out the best method of fighting the spirits. You’ll also enjoy the old school arcade music and fun sound effects as you clear out those pesky spirits.

Reviews “This is quite a solid puzzle game. There are plenty of strategies to be discovered as you try to find the best way to eliminate the spirits while keeping your mana up. Lots of fun!” – Android Rundown

“Wiz Kid, Jr. is an excellent example of arcade puzzle design. From simple, solid gameplay, it creates a frantic, mesmerizing, and entirely unique experience…” – Pocket Gamer
“Overall, Wiz Kid Jr. is a stellar game. The scary, training wizard man up top looks great, as do all the stylized fonts and accents. It runs smooth as butter, and has a kickin’ soundtrack, to boot.” – Android Central

Download Link: http://goo.gl/icSEv (Amazon.com)

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

Task Killers. The Good, Bad and Ugly

Task killers were something that at one point when you bought your phone you were told you needed. Now there are a lot of debates (ok maybe arguments) over what is the right thing.  In an attempt to enlighten the masses I have done a little research to help you make an informed decision. Comments are welcome, and please, correct me if I am misinformed..

From the way I understand it…  I am going to go through “A Day in the Life” of an Android app:  Let’s say you want to play a game. So you load up your Tank Hero app.  You are playing along, and in this example we will have you at work, and your boss walks into the room.  You quickly hit the Home key and pretend like nothing happened (nice reaction time). You app moves from an active status, to a paused status.  It’s not actually “killed” but it isn’t running, All of a sudden you get an email from your work email, and the alert goes off.  You grab your phone and check the email, which has a spreadsheet attached to it.  You open the attachment and get thrown back into work.

At this point you have forgotten all about the Tank Hero game, but your phone hasn’t.  As these other apps you started using needed the memory that the game was using, so it kills the app. But don’t fret, it kills the app nicely.  Actually I think that “kills” is a little harsh of a word. It is more like suspending. It closes the app, and attaches the state of the app – for most apps.  A good example of this is when you are in the web browser.  It will typically save the state of the app, so when you close the app (or Android closes it for you) it will pick up right where you left off.

Apps with a built in save feature can save to the last save.  A good example of this is one of my favorite games Worms HD.  It is a remake of a classic turn based artillery game in which you fight different teams of worms.  In that game, it autosaves at the end of every turn, so if you manually kill the task, it restarts at the beginning of the turn.  If you let the OS kill the task it will still do the same.

So back to the scenario… You boss is now out of sight, and you are all caught up on your work (well as caught up as you need to be for now) and you start thinking about that Tank Hero game again.  You go back into your apps and load up the game and start playing it, just like you had never left it.  All without really bogging down the memory of your phone.

I came across this chart that follows the life cycle of an app.

With all this technical mumbo-jumbo, where do task killers fit in.  A lot of people out there are strongly opinionated in the fact that task killers are bad and you shouldn’t use them.  I disagree.  I feel like there is a place on your phone for a task killer. If you are running a poorly coded app and it freezes up a task killer is a good option to unfreeze that frozen app, and a lot of times it is easier to use the app than it is to load up the Settings – Applications – Manage Applications menu.  A second reason to use a task killer is for people out there using an older Android version. The built in task management capabilities aren’t as good with 1.5 and 1.6 along with 2.0 and 2.1.  With these versions you may have luck with a task killer.

So, now is your chance to add your own $.02 to this discussion. Any comments, corrections or opinions.  I would love to hear/learn more about this…

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

Spectrum Puzzles – Free Amazon Appstore App of the Day

Name: Spectrum Puzzles

Description:
Admit it, you’re a puzzle freak. You like nothing better than to take a jumble of small images–or odd-shaped cardboard pieces, if you’re really old school–and produce a complete picture suitable for framing. Spectrum Puzzles for Android understands.

Plenty of Puzzlement
This is not your grandmother’s puzzle app (if indeed, your grandmother even has a smartphone). Spectrum features a wide variety of cool features. The basic object is to unscramble images by sliding pieces around the screen. The app comes preloaded with nearly 50 vibrant, high-quality images to put together. These images cover the “spectrum” from still-life photos and nature shots to buildings and machines.

An interesting aspect of this app is that the puzzles are presented in order from easiest to most difficult. The first few will be child’s play, but you’ll probably be muttering to yourself as you gradually unlock and tackle the tougher ones. You can, however, choose four different sizes for each puzzle, ranging from 12 to 48 pieces. In addition to being able to pick the size of the puzzle, there are three difficulty settings: Easy, Medium, and Hard. These determine whether or not the pieces lock into place when you put them in the right spot, or if they show colored borders to make it even easier to place them. In this way, you can make it easier or harder on yourself.

Get the Picture?
The images included in the app are great, but it’s a lot more fun to use your own photos from your phone. Snap or select a picture of your friends or an interesting object, import it into the app, and boom–you’ve got a unique puzzle to complete. Therefore, the number of puzzles you can tackle in this app is unlimited.

Other helpful features in the app are Reminders (so you can refresh your memory of what the final image looks like), Pause, Restart (reset and start over), and the ability to save your puzzle and come back later. Of course, you’ll get so hooked on Spectrum that you’ll probably never use this feature. Must. Finish. Puzzle!

Show Your Stuff
In addition to progressing through the increasingly difficult puzzles, you can set personal marks for how long each puzzle takes you and how many moves you need to solve it. These stats are tracked for each size puzzle, so you can actually set eight different records for each one. That’s nearly 400 total records to set, so you’d better download Spectrum and get going, pronto.

Download Link: http://goo.gl/TCKhn (Amazon.com)

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

Try Android apps before you buy them with Amazon’s Test Drive

Have you ever wanted to check out an app without having to buy it first?  Or simply wanted to see it in action and interact with it before you download it to your phone?  Sick of the not-so-generous 15 minute return period you get with the Android Market?  Well than you need to check out Amazon’s Test Drive.

Test Drive is basically an Android emulator that runs in your browser window.  It gives you a 30 minute window to try out the app, using your mouse as touch input and your keyboard to type, without having to buy anything, or download anything.  They have thousands of apps that you can do this with too.

So give it a shot and see what you think!

Refraction- Free Amazon App of the Day

Name: Refraction

Description:
Refraction satisfies your need for challenging puzzles that test your logic and patience.

The Objective
Each puzzle contains one or more static laser beam. Using mirrors or prisms, refract the colored laser to the circle of the same color. Various objects obstruct your path. The circle nor the source of the beam can be moved. The only way to manipulate the beam is by using the provided number of prisms and mirrors.

Depending on the color of the circle and laser, you may have to combine and split different colored lasers. This app uses pigment colors rather than light colors for refraction because pigment colors are an easier concept to grasp than light colors and accommodate the majority of users.

For example, if a puzzle has one yellow laser and one blue laser with one green circle and one yellow circle, you must combine lasers to create a green beam to reach the green circle.

The Solutions
Refraction features 120 levels with multiple solutions to each puzzle for the casual and hardcore players alike. You may like to solve a puzzle using the least amount of objects possible, or solve it with an amazing display of colors using lots of prisms and mirrors.

User Interface
The interface is accurate and simple, just like the logical gamer would want it. You won’t be distracted by silly music or non-essential flair. With the polished graphics and ultimate precision, you play the game, not fight it.

Refraction offers the ability to take screenshots from the app and save them to your SD card. To take a screenshot, tap Menu > Take Screenshot > Saves to SD Card at /Pictures/Refraction.

Permissions
External storage permission is necessary to save screenshots. The wake lock permission allows you to turn off your screen’s auto-sleep which is off by default. The internet permission is for analytics tracking by Localytics.

Download Link: http://goo.gl/FdVbR (Amazon.com)

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

iCooking Barbecue – Free Amazon Appstore App for 8/3/11

Name: iCooking Barbecue
Description:
This grilling season surprise your guests with unique new barbecue favorites. iCooking Barbecue offers dishes that will be a welcome change from the typical burgers and hot dogs. If you don’t think you’re a grill master, it’s time to reevaluate your skills. These easy-to-follow recipes will turn your backyard into the new place for the best barbecue.

Beyond the Burger
Simply searching for a recipe will make your mouth water. Vivid photos of each dish, and a search-friendly interface make it simple to peruse a variety of delectable options, from bacon-wrapped scallop kabobs to Asian-style beef patties. Search All Recipes to view every dish. If you’re set on grilling something specific–let’s say, beef–search recipes by type, and filter your search to eliminate all non-beef options.

Grilling the Goods
Once you’ve decided on a recipe, iCooking Barbecue lists all of the ingredients you’ll need, provides step-by-step instructions if necessary, and includes a nice photo of the completed dish. The app also lets you save your own original recipes as well as share your discoveries with friends and family via e-mail. Don’t forget to add dishes to your Favorites list for those that you and your guests just love.

Download Link: http://goo.gl/niZ3H (Amazon.com)

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

Alternatives to the Android Market

So you have an Android phone that you want to be able to make your own, or you may feel a little restricted by Google’s Android Market.  What other options are out there?  I do a lot of talking and linking to things in Android Market, but I also talk and link a lot about the Amazon Appstore. The Amazon Appstore (among others – see below) is an alternate place to download apps for Android and along with the below list gives you the freedom to get your apps from anywhere.

I will cover a handful of app stores below. Feel free to check them out and comment about your experiences.

Name: SlideME App Store
Description:
SlideME is a great alternative to the Google Android Market, and is the site that has made recent (geek gamer) news because of the user yongzh getting booted out of Google’s market and pulling all of his apps and moving over to SlideME and releasing them for free. He is the author of the (insert-classic-system-here)OID games like, NESOID, SNESOID, GameBoid. Just for those apps alone you should go check out the SlideME appstore.
Download Link: http://goo.gl/P8VoU (SlideMe.org)

Name: AndSpot.com
Description:
AndSpot takes a unique approach to the idea of an app store. One that all you power users out there will love. They have a monthly service that gives you UNLIMITED Android app downloads for a low low monthly rate of $8 per month. It is in Beta so you have to sign up for it and wait to get an invite.
Download Link: http://goo.gl/2EEMd(AndSpot.com)

Name: Aproov
Description:
Aproov is a web based app “store” that specializes is only Free apps. This is great if you are someone that spends a lot of time looking through the regular market’s free section and struggle with it because it is not designed for just free apps, where this app store is designed just for that.
Download Link: http://goo.gl/Y930E (Aproov.com)

Name: OnlyAndroid (Mobihand.com)
Description:
OnlyAndroid is an app store that has an option that is similar to the Amazon Appstore. It offers a “deal of the day” on an android app or service. Although it is not a free app, but it also does include services, for example the deal for today (7/29/11) is a 15 month subscription to the SmrtGuard service which gives you data backup and a lost phone finder service for 50% off. It is definitely a site to keep tabs on because they might offer a great deal on that certain app you have been eyeing.
Download Link: http://goo.gl/kNGYB (onlyandroid.mobihand.com)

Name: Amazon App Store
Description:
Amazon Appstore is the alternative appstore that I am obviously a huge fan of mainly because of the feature they offer every day that gives you a FREE app that you can just download. No strings attached. They have a great selection of apps and almost all of the apps have a sale price that is cheaper than the “normal” Android Market.
Download Link: http://goo.gl/BRkOt (Amazon.com)

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

Apps Not “Approved” For Your Phone

For the final (for now) portion of the “Why Root” series I will discuss some other apps that are only available on a device that is rooted. Well they may be listed on here as “only available”, keep in mind that they may be install-able on a non-rooted phone but they probably won’t work, or do anything at all.

Name: Superuser
Description:
Superuser is the main app that allows you to grant Superuser rights on your phone. Any of the apps on this page, or any app that requires root will need your permission to use the seperuser ability. This app allows you to save that permission and remember it for the next time you use the app.
It is preloaded on a majority of the roms and root packages out there, but just incase it isn’t you can get it for free on the Android Market. The barcode and links on this page link directly to the Market page, so they will work on your computer or phone.
From the Developer:
Grant and manage Superuser rights for your phone.
This app requires that you already have root, or a custom recovery image to work.
Note: App and binary will have different versions. The app is updated more often than the binary is.
Install fixed for CM6 Stable
If install fails, check http://bit.ly/su2xx for a solution
Download Link: http://goo.gl/kcbX2 (Android Market)

Name: Titanium Backup
Description:
This is the first app I install after a reset or flashing a new rom. It allows you to backup your apps, mass move your apps to the memory card, and much much more.
From Developer:
EXTREMELY powerful tool. Backup ALL apps, Market links, remove bloatware & MORE!
☆Over 2 million users, 23+ languages!
☆Needs ROOT, Android 1.5-3.1+
☆PRO Key is available on Market!
☆Voted #1 TOP ROOT APP on Twitter.
☆Problem? See matrixrewriter.com/wiki
☆Internet used for Dropbox/Changelog
☆AVOID “unofficial” TB versions: they cause infamous “package signature” errors!
☆ ☆ ☆
The ONLY tool that can backup, restore, freeze (with Pro) your apps + data + Market links! Fully supports protected and system apps! 0-click Batch/scheduled backups! Can move apps (or app data) to/from SD card! The PRO version adds 0-click batch restores, Dropbox sync, conversion between user system apps, Dalvik cleaner & MORE!
Download Link: http://goo.gl/Sdd73 (Android Market)

Name: Rom Manager
Description:
Rom Manager was previously covered on this site, but is required on any list of root apps. It gives you the easiest way to download and flash a custom rom onto your phone, plus be able to make a backup of your current setup, and restore it too. This is the 2nd app that I install (after Titanium Backup).
From the Developer:
Must have app for any root user. Make backups, flash ROMs, and own your device.
*June 15, 2011* I am aware of the recently introduced force close bug, and would like to apologize. I have updated a fixed version, 4.3.1.8. Please let me know if that works!
ROM Manager is THE MUST HAVE APP for any Android root user. (Over 1.3 million downloads and counting!)
* Flash your recovery to the latest and greatest ClockworkMod recovery.
* Manage your ROMs via a handy UI.
* Organize and perform backups and restores from within Android!
* Install ROMs from your SD card.
* Install your favorite ROMs over the air!
Download Link: http://goo.gl/aQt3Y (Android Market)

Name: drocap2
Description:
Drocap fills a big gap that Android hasn’t officially incorporated, Screenshots. It gives you the ability to take a picture of your screen, which is great for sharing what is on your screen with the web, or through a picture message. As you use it you will find a million uses for it.
From Developer:
Screen Capture Utility.
WARNING: You need root permission for use drocap2.
Tap start button and shake the device or wait for timer to capture screen image. You can also make a capture trigger from Notification bar. This works well with “superuser whitelist” environment.
Download Link: http://goo.gl/mtcJx (Android Market)

Name: Root Explorer File Manager $4.87
Description:
As the only paid app on this list (unless you consider pro or upgraded versions) this is a must have app for anyone with root. there are tons of tutorials that tell you how to use this app to remove apps that are preinstalled, like all the bloatware…
From Developer:
Root Explorer is the ultimate file manager for root users. Access the whole of android’s file system (including the elusive data folder!).
Features include SQLite database viewer, Text Editor, create and extract zip or tar/gzip files, extract rar archives, multi-select, execute scripts, search, remount, permissions, bookmarks, send files (via email, bluetooth etc), image thumbnails, APK binary XML viewer, change file owner and group.
Download Link: http://goo.gl/RsYkS (Android Market $4.87)

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone: